The present disclosure generally relates to beverage dispensing devices. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to mixing nozzle fitments for dispensing beverages.
There are a variety of beverage dispensers currently on the market. Some beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a hot or cold ready-to-drink fluid directly into a container such as a cup. Other beverage dispensers operate by dispensing a powdered or liquid concentrate along with a separate diluent through a beverage dispensing nozzle and into a container or cup to form the drink.
The present invention relates to post-mix dispensers in which a liquid concentrate is stored and is automatically combined at the time of dispensing with a diluents such as water at a predetermined ratio. The combination is usually operated in a mixing chamber in which the concentrate and the diluents emerge. The relative flows of the concentrate and diluent can be controlled to maximize the qualities of the beverage such as mixing and foam production. This mixing chamber can be a mixing tee fitment such as described in WO 01/21292 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,759. In these prior arts the mixing tee fitment comprises a horizontal diluent inlet portion joined to vertical beverage outlet portion by an elbow and a vertical concentrate inlet emerging in the horizontal diluent inlet portion.
It has been observed that the above type of fitment could lead to accumulation of concentrate in dead zones. This accumulation can lead to hygienic problems if the beverage concentrates are sensible to bacteria such as milk. This problem is emphasized if the dispenser is intermittently used. In addition the concentrate could also get into the water inlet stream and create problems from a hygienic point of view, especially since the water inlet valve is part of the machine and not easily cleanable.
The present invention aims at solving the hygiene issues relative to this kind of mixing tee fitment.